British Prime Minister Keir Starmer insisted Friday he would not resign after a set of local and regional elections that delivered a sweeping rebuke to his center-left Labour government, with the party losing more than half the council seats it was defending while the hard-right Reform UK surged in working-class strongholds across England.
The results, reported by the Associated Press, were widely seen as an unofficial referendum on Starmer, whose popularity has plummeted since he led Labour to power less than two years ago on promises of economic revival after 14 years of Conservative rule.
“The voters have sent a message about the pace of change, how they want their lives improved,” Starmer said. “I was elected to meet those challenges, and I’m not going to walk away from those challenges and plunge the country into chaos.”
Reform UK, led by veteran nationalist politician Nigel Farage, won hundreds of local council seats in areas of England’s north — including Sunderland — that had been Labour turf for decades. The party, which campaigned on an anti-establishment and anti-immigration platform, performed particularly well in regions that voted to leave the European Union in the 2016 Brexit referendum. Farage described the results as a “historic change in British politics.”
The Green Party also gained ground across England. Under self-described “eco populist” leader Zack Polanski, the Greens won the mayoral race in London’s Hackney borough and added hundreds of council seats in urban centers including London and Manchester, as well as in university towns such as Cambridge. The Conservative Party also lost ground, with the centrist Liberal Democrats making some gains.
The most striking reversal for Labour came in Wales, where Plaid Cymru secured a historic breakthrough, ending Labour’s unbroken 27-year run in power since the devolved legislature was formed. The party fell short of a majority but is expected to form the new Welsh government. Labour dropped to third place behind Reform UK, and its Welsh leader lost her seat.
“Welsh Labour has today suffered a catastrophic result,” said outgoing Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan. “It ends a century of Labour winning in Wales and the party will have to take a really hard look at itself.”
In Scotland, the Scottish National Party, which has governed since 2007 and campaigned on a promise to hold another independence referendum, won the most seats in the parliamentary election. Because it fell short of a majority, analysts said it is less likely to push for a referendum during the coming five-year term. Labour vied with Reform UK for second place.
Tony Travers, professor of government at the London School of Economics, said the elections show established parties struggling “to respond to populists on the left and right who appear to provide painless and simple solutions to intractable political and economic problems.”
John Curtice, professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde, said Britain is entering a new political era. “Even Reform are probably not quite at 30% of the vote, so the fracturing of British politics is underlined by these results,” he told the BBC.
Starmer’s standing has been battered by repeated missteps, including policy U-turns on welfare reform, and his government’s struggle to deliver promised economic growth, repair public services, and ease the cost of living. Those challenges have been compounded by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, which has choked off oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. The prime minister has also been damaged by his appointment of Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain’s ambassador to Washington.
A handful of Labour lawmakers urged Starmer to quit. “I don’t think Keir Starmer should survive these results,” said Jonathan Brash, who represents Hartlepool in Parliament. “We have to be bolder, and we have to go further. And quite frankly, we need new leadership in order to achieve that.”
Cabinet ministers cautioned the party not to topple the prime minister, while acknowledging the results were a wake-up call. Even if Starmer survives the immediate challenge, the Associated Press reported that many in the party doubt he will lead Labour into the next national election, which must be held by 2029.